True Love Conquers All
by WordsSpillFromMyVeins
Summary: So, this was essentially my attempt at what did eventually become S5E1 'After The Storm' and I would like to point out, that I wrote them falling off Castle's bed months and months before the premiere. In fact, I wrote this first chapter the same day 'Always' aired, which was May 7th 2012 and posted it within the week over on castletv dot net. LOLZ
1. The Morning After

The morning after can be awkward... sometimes; but Rick and Kate fell easily into a morning routine, almost as if the last four years was practice.

They had built up an ESP/Synchronicity over the years and not surprisingly it translated to the bedroom without a hitch.

Kate ran the back of her hand down Rick's side; just as he pushed her bangs out of her eyes, caressed her cheek and pulled her close for a long passionate kiss.

She moaned, enjoying the bliss. Kate thought to herself "I could stay here forever".

Rick could always sense a mood change in Kate; it was just like his uncanny ability to come up with annoying theories.

He rested his hand on her shoulder and asked "What's wrong? Can't have been anything I did, my moves are designed to please..."

She rolled her eyes (like she had many many times before) but her face suddenly turned a mixture of concern and sadness, again he asked in a more serious tone.

"Kate, it's okay, you can tell me anything" but he couldn't resist getting one last Rick Castle classic in before she took his hand and held it tight "After last night, judging would be like asking if we could use the cuffs every time..." he giggled at his own joke and finished by saying "which by the way, I will not bring up around OUR friends"

She squeezed his hand tighter and said in a whisper "Rick, I resigned"

Kate tried to turn away but held Rick's gaze.

She wanted to know what he thought... and where they stood now.

He looked at her awhile, searching for a sign or maybe just gathering his thoughts, which scared her and undid the tension release they worked on so very hard ALL last night.

Rick shifted a little, looked at her again.. this time harder; she felt him bore into her soul, he stared at his bedroom ceiling and sighed.

Kate let his hand slip from hers and emotionally braced for their first fight (which she was sure would be his fault and much further into their relationship), however Rick made a move to take it back, intertwining their fingers.

He turned his face towards hers and said "Is it really what you wanted?"

She let out a huge breath, wondering how he did that; made her calm, when she didn't think it was possible.

"I mean really really wanted... or were you angry and backed into a corner? asked Rick.

A question that led to a lengthy discussion about her decision, and which came to the conclusion that it was the right one... for now.

They heard the front door to the apartment open.

"Alexis" Rick called out, clearly he wasn't thinking.

Kate's face fell, and she started to freak out.

She tried to cover his mouth with her hand but knew it was futile, he moved her hand and mouthed "What?", while throwing his arms up in confusion.

Kate put her index finger to her mouth and mimed "Shh.." but that only made Rick speak louder (with a twinkle in his eye), overtly mocking her need for privacy.

She pounced on him in one last ditch attempt to quiet the man she finally admitted she loved; but gravity had other plans, Rick fell backwards onto the floor tangled up in musty bed sheets with Kate landing on top of him and all was for naught because they both cracked up. He lifted his head up and kissed her.

She was straddling him to keep balanced, so he put his arms around her waist clasping his hands at the small of her back and said "Nice move! Who's up for breakfast? I know I am"

Kate stood over Rick in just her underwear, gestured to his closet and asked "May I?"

"Oh, please wear my Green Lantern shirt..15yr old me would be soo proud" said Rick, thrilled beyond belief.

She gave him a coy smile as she slipped his green lantern t-shirt on and exited his room.

Rick got back into bed replaying the events of the night before, he didn't realize his trip down recent memory lane was so intense until he saw Kate saunter back in with a tray of breakfast goodies, saying "Breakfast in Bed!"

He smiled and then questioned her about Alexis coming home.

"I didn't see her, but it's entirely possible she went up to her room. Didn't you say she pulling an all nighter? Or maybe you just thought you heard the door, a little too eager to tell everyone, are we?" she replied gently poking his bare chest.

Kate cuddled up close to Rick, while they sat in silence; eating fruit, pancakes and THE bacon and sipping their matching glasses of OJ. It was a sweet moment (perfect actually) momentarily paused by Kate looking around the room and locking down clothing item locations.

It was then she realized she wasn't wearing her fathers watch anymore; obviously it had come off in the heat of passion, but she'd always felt a little naked without it on. She squirmed in the bed, making long sweeping motions with her arms "nope not in the bed" she thought, at this point Rick wanted in on the treasure hunt so he asked "What are we looking for?"

"My Dads watch" came her quick and worried response.

"Don't you know who your partner is by now? I found it under my pillow while you were still sleeping this morning and after it's last trip to the watchmaker, I've been keeping an eye on it...in other words, I put it in my bedside table drawer" said Rick with is trademark eyebrow flourish.

She reached out and touched his lips "Thanks"

"I should go, I need to grab a change of clothes and.." Kate said as drank the last of her orange juice.

"Noo stay, come on. We have a washing machine here and we could actually start the infamous John Woo Double Feature" protested Rick, holding onto her arm.

"Well, I'd hate to miss that but can we do it tonight?" smiled Kate.

Rick relented (afraid to push too hard), watching as she put on last nights clothes and left his apartment.


	2. A Night Of John Woo

"Look at you! You actually came back" joked Rick, as he opened the front door of his apartment.

"You really thought I wouldn't?" replied Kate.

"I was hoping, but honestly my hopes have been dashed in the past" he realised that came out a little more serious than he intended so he took her overnight bag.

"I want you to know I'm not going anywhere, I meant what I said 'I just want you'..." she paused, slipped her arm through his, rested her head on his shoulder and said "Always"

Rick smiled, as they strolled over to the couch together.

"So you were right this morning..." he said.

"About?" asked Kate, with a quizzical look.

"The door, it couldn't have been more than a fevered daydream brought on by last nights shenanigans. My little Graduate came home to sleep while you were gone..." answered Rick, before adding quickly "She's at a friends place right now but she'll be back for dinner at eight"

"Dinner? Suddenly, I'm very nervous" replied a slightly terrified Kate.

"Don't be, she really looks up to you. She'll be fine, maybe even happy for us..."

She shifted uncomfortably on the couch, it was a bad crack on Rick's half and he knew it.

"It'll be okay, really" he said poking her thigh.

Kate sunk back into the couch, as Rick got up.

He pointed to his DVD collection as he walked toward the kitchen "The Killer and Hard Boiled should be on the second shelf. I'm going to grab us some glasses and a GREAT bottle of Red"

Kate grabbed them, and placed both DVD cases on the coffee table, taking The Killer out and putting it into the DVD player.

She was relaxing on the couch watching the FBI Warning when Rick handed her a glass, the back of his hand lightly touched hers which caused a flow of electricity to wash over her, holding eye contact memories of the night before flooded Kate's mind, he tried desperately to hide a grin and sat down beside her.

Taking her hand in his (the one holding the glass), he poured a delicious red liquid into the glass.

Kate mumbled something to the affect of "Uhm... we should... the movie, someone should really press play before we..."

Rick put the bottle down, leaned in and kissed her deeply!

"never get around to it"

Kate guided their hands to put the wine glass down on the coffee table and moved into Rick's body, returning the intensity. After a few minutes they broke apart, smiling at each other.

"Okay, let's do this" Rick said, patting Beckett's knee.

About 45 minutes into 'The Killer' Rick's cell started beeping, he picked it up off the side table, swiping his index finger across the screen a TXT appeared he quickly gave it the once over, it read 'Castle we need to talk- Ryan' he hesitated and then switched his cell off. Kate may have been watching the movie but her years as a Detective made it nearly impossible to not notice the little things, like Rick's hesitation.

"Who was that?" she inquired.

He looked at her and said "Ah, no-one, it's not important"

Kate side eyed Rick, giving him a suspicious "Ohkay", which told him she knew he was acting shifty. They managed to make through the rest of the movie without interruption, save for a kiss here and there.

With ten minutes left on 'Hard Boiled' it was Kate's cell phone that went off next. She gave Rick an apologetic look, he just smiled and said "More popcorn" and made his way to the kitchen.

It was Lanie and she had some questions for her friend...

"Hey Lanie"

"Don't you 'Hey Lanie' me, what's all this about you resigning? I need some sort of an explanation" Lanie was pissed

"Uh yeah, maybe tomorrow?..." Kate said hopefully "I'm kind of busy, right now"

She knew that she was digging a bigger hole with her best friend by not giving her a straight answer but she wasn't ready yet, and Lanie would forgive her eventually.

Rick called out "Popcorn ready in 3.. 2.. 1" from the other room and Kate winced.

"Uhm, is that who I think it is?" said a surprised Lanie

"Maybe..."

"Where are you right now?"

Kate felt like she was being interrogated by Lanie, well-versed in that area she countered with "We'll have lunch tomorrow, promise"

"Sure and while we're at it you can fill me in on this other development"

Rick was just rounding the couch when Kate ended the call with Lanie but he still heard Lanie's parting word, her trademark "Guurl" and that laugh, the one he tried to get from her on a weekly basis.

"Was that Lanie?"

She looked up at him, taking the fresh bowl of popcorn from him and setting it on the table

"Yeah, I hadn't told her about me resigning, yet. I guess someone at the precinct filled her in"

Rick was more than a little shocked, because he knew they spoke about everything

"Why haven't you?"

"Uh, Castle! Little preoccupied..."

He nodded, unconvinced.

"Right.. but you were at your place for like five hours today. Why not call and tell her everything?"

Kate knew Rick would be okay with telling everyone about them being together, she knew he'd been counting the days and that it was a scenario he's played out in his mind a thousand times, and she loved that but she still had concerns.

"I don't know. S'pose I'm still working through everything" she found herself looking around the apartment, a little uncomfortable and waiting for his response.

"Okay, no rush..." he really didn't want to press the issue, they'd tell everyone when they were both ready "A honeymoon phase could be good for us, gives us time to figure everything out...starting now. What are we?"

Kate just stared at Rick. She knew better than to interrupt one of his tangents, oh god she knew when he was about to start a tangent, she thought.

"I've never actually been a boyfriend before... mostly just a boo-never mind" Rick stopped himself when he noticed the 'Are you kidding me?' look on Kate's face

"Just so we're clear... and uh... everybody knows where they stand" he started inching backwards, the look on her face had him extremely nervous.

"How could I have said something wrong?" he thought, while still rambling.

Rick started mumbling "I'm in.. I love- Uhm..sorry?"

He gave her a weak smile and his best puppy dog eyes.

Kate's façade was cracking, she was playing him.

"Oh, nice!"

A smirk made it's way across her mouth.

"Payback for the numerous times you've played me"

"Oh, you're good" Rick said leaning in to kiss her.

Just when the door to the apartment swung open.

"I'm not late...I'm not late.. I'm not" came Alexis' exasperated voice.

Rick and Kate hadn't even noticed that it was ten past the hour. Alexis however came to a screeching halt when she saw them together on the couch and how close she and her father seemed to be.

"Hey, princess" beamed Rick

"Hello, Alexis" was all an awkward Kate could manage

"Or maybe I'm glad to be a little late? What's going on?" asked Alexis, a smidge confused by the situation before her.

Rick wasted no time letting his only daughter in on the secret

"Uh yeah, this is why I wanted us to have dinner together tonight"

"This?!" questioned Alexis.

"She doesn't sound fine, Castle" thought Kate, mentally cursing herself for leaving this up to him.

Rick was a child half the time, for gods sake.

He swore she'd take the news well, but her reaction was less than convincing-especially to Kate. They'd hung out a few times, met for coffee at a café to discuss Alexis' boy troubles and the like without her fathers interruption. She had really come to appreciate Alexis' honesty and this didn't feel like her honest reaction.

"Yeah, Kate is my gir- nope that doesn't sound right- Kate and I are in a relationship now, sweetie" said Rick.

Alexis turned her gaze to Kate. She could tell her father was happy but wasn't getting the same vibe from her.

Kate almost disappeared into the couch. Sensing this, Rick squeezed her hand in support, this gave her enough courage to address Alexis.

"I uh... I wanna be with your dad, Alexis. I'm not gon- I won't hurt him, I promise"

Rick put his arm around Kate's waist, grinning.

"If you're both happy.." smiled Alexis.

'We are" Rick interrupted.

"Yes" echoed Kate.

"Soo what's for dinner?" Alexis asked after a brief silence.

"Take-out, your choice" replied her father.

Alexis flashed them one last smile before disappearing into the kitchen with the hands free to order.

"Castle!" exclaimed Kate, prodding his chest.

"Ow, what?"

"You said she'd be fine... with us, being together"

"She is...isn't she" Rick said unsure of what he missed.

"Really? You can't tell when your own kid is or isn't okay with a life decision... with the mistakes you've made?" Kate said raising an eyebrow.

"Well, usually she gets mad or embarrassed. I didn't see either of those, I don't think" he made a face and turned his attention toward the kitchen, confused.

"Riight" Kate thought shaking her head.

"I'm ordering from Shinto Palace. Dad, did you or Beckett want anything specific?"

"See, look at that.." Rick almost wrenched his neck spinning around to face Kate.

"Look at what, Castle?"

"If she was angry she wouldn't have asked about OUR specifics" he was wearing a grin that rivalled the Cheshire cat in Alice in wonderland.

Kate laughed.

Relinquishing any control she had over how her life was to work from this moment on, she'd signed up for the whole Castle experience.

"I'm allergic to salmon"

"Okay..." he looked at her with those beautiful bright blue eyes, yep she was in this for the long haul "Alexis, sweetie... nothing with salmon"

"Okay" replied Alexis.

Finally relaxed, Kate rested her head on Rick's shoulder, he in turn put his arm around hers, pulling her close and kissing the top of her head.


	3. Over Before It Began

*ring ring* *ring ring*

Kate absentmindedly answered the phone... and was met with "Richard, darling?"

She froze. She didn't know whether to answer Martha or toss the phone at Rick, she cocked her head to look at the digital clock on his bedside table - 7:30 - flashed periodically.

Kate turned her focus back to Rick who was still sleeping, so she decided to bite the bullet "Hello, Martha"

"Kate? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine" Kate said, half easing the worry in Martha's voice & half evading any questions about her being at the apartment this early, she didn't really want to tell Martha she was currently in her son's bed, with him asleep beside her "Did you want me to find Castle?"

"That would be wonderful, thank you"

"Alright"

Kate put her hand over the receiver and tried desperately to rouse Rick from his deep sleep but he was not an easy guy to wake up, she heard a noise coming from the other room.

"Alexis!" she thought.

Kate leapt out of bed, pulled on some pants and headed out through the adjoining office to find her savoir, in the form of a tiny red-head.

The fridge door closest to her was open, whispering as loudly as she could she said 'Alexis... Alexis"

Alexis looked around the fridge door to see Kate gesturing at the phone in her hand.

"Yes?"

"It's your grandmother.." Kate said and held out her hand so the young woman could take the phone.

Alexis looked at Beckett and seeing the desperation on her face decided against asking what was going on.

"Thanks" Kate mouthed as she turned to walk away, she was halfway across the room when she heard Alexis say "Grams?"

Back in Rick's bedroom, he was still blissfully asleep. Kate kneeled down beside him and ran her hand delicately through his hair, causing his eyelid's to flutter, which made her smile.

Nudging his arm she said "Castle, wake up" his eyelid's fluttered again, this time she kissed him and Rick's eyes slowly opened.

"Good morning" Rick whispered.

"Hi" Kate ran her hand through his hair again, he sure was adorable first thing in the morning.

Rick slipped his right arm out from under the blanket, carefully draped it around her neck and pulled her in for a kiss...it seem to last forever, only broken by

"Why are you out of bed so early?"

"Your mother called..." a look of shocked amusement washed over Rick's face "yep, awkward. Your daughter spared me more embarrassment by taking the phone, they're talking right now"

"Sorry" the small laugh that followed the apology made it clear Rick was highly amused and probably a little annoyed he missed the scene play out.

"She called to speak to you"

"Oh, Okay" he suddenly made a move to get out of bed, she stood, letting him pass by her.

Kate heard Alexis say "Dad!" and Castles response "Coming" as she slinked back into bed.

A bed she could stay in, so long as he was with her, for a couple more hours... just a couple, she told herself.

"Hello, mother, isn't it a little early for a check-in?" Rick said, making himself comfortable on a stool and running his fingers through his messy hair.

"Oh, Richard, darling. Carpe diem, seize the day..."

"Yes, mother. But why the early morning wake-up call?" he yawned.

"I met someone!" exclaimed Martha.

"That's great, but it could have waited until tonight, right?"

"I suppose, however love is a wonderful thing... speaking of love. Kate's at the house?" Martha's smiled, on the other end of the line.

Rick had almost fallen asleep but his mothers not so subtle over the phone nudging caught his ear "Uh Huh"

"Does that mean YOU came to your senses and asked her over for dinner?"

"Oh, she was good" thought Rick.

"Not exactly"

"Huh?"

"It's a loooong story, one that can wait until you get back from the Hampton's, but yes we're together" he found himself smiling, they were finally together... after everything that threatened to tear them apart before they even had a chance.

"Oh, that's marvellous. We should have a family dinner when I get back"

"Absolutely...Of course, we'll see you when you get back. Bye"

"Give Alexis... and Kate a hug for me"

Alexis was descending the stairs as he ended the call.

"Why did Grams call so early?" she asked, sitting down next her father.

"She's in love and apparently we just had to know" they both laughed.

"Shouldn't Beckett be at the Precinct?" Alexis wondered out loud.

Rick looked toward his bedroom and said "I'm working on it" and hugged his daughter per his mother's request, patted her hand and headed back to his room.

He paused in the doorway to his room taken by the image before him, the woman he loves in his bed. Resting his head on the door frame he smiled, watching her as she lay there, mesmerized by her beauty.

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?" Kate said, as she rolled over to face him.

"Make me feel the way I do, like someone who..." he started walking toward the bed.

"Magic!" she said cutting him off.

Alexis was sitting at the kitchen table eating cereal when her father and Kate entered, hand in hand, and rather happy. She watched in awe as Castle and Beckett begun a sort of ballet, him moving smoothly past her to get juice out of the fridge, her spinning around to face the espresso machine, him walking behind her and lightly touching her shoulder blade, her grinning at his touch.

As Rick reached the table, carrying a jug full of juice he said "What?"

Alexis had been staring and wasn't exactly sure what to say, so she just smiled and continued eating her breakfast.

Kate made her way to the table with a tray of French Toast, consciously choosing to sit across from Rick.

"Hey, 'lexis. You want a lift to the morgue?" Kate said, once they'd finished eating.

"Sure, thanks"

They drove in silence, until they reached the block before the morgue.

"Beckett?"

"Yeah?" Kate shot a quick glance at Alexis, not wanting to take her eyes off the road.

"My dad really loves you..."

Kate took a breath.

"I know"

Alexis wasn't finished "He's done a lot for you, things you don't know about, things he'd never admit too. I just want you to know that"

"This is what last night was about" thought Kate.

"Okay, Can I ask you something?"

"Sure"

They hit a red light, so Kate faced Alexis and said "Do you really think I would intentionally hurt your father?"

Alexis looked her, taking a moment to think through what she was about to say.

"No, but my father is everything to me. I don't think he'd survive if you did. I need to be sure... for him, that you won't leave"

"You want the truth? I've never loved anyone the way I love Castle. It's new, and it's something I want in my life. He makes me feel like I'm not alone, that I can be the person I want to be... that nothing I do will make him love me any less"

They both smiled, in understanding.

"We're here" Kate said as they pulled up in front of the ME building.

Alexis got out and headed toward the glass door, Kate watched her enter the building through the rear-view mirror.

Walking up to the café Kate saw Lanie through the window, she was sitting at a table towards the back of the room. She paused for a moment, bracing herself for the questions that were headed her way. Why did you resign? What went down with Maddox? Why didn't you call me? What was the sex like? Basically, what the hell happened?

Looking up she noticed Lanie waving for her to come in, she smiled and entered the café.

Kate sat down across from her best friend.

"Hey"

"Really?" Lanie said raising an eyebrow.

"Well... yeah. What else did you want me to open with?" she said, nonchalantly filled her glass up with water from the complimentary pitcher.

"You're going to make me beg, aren't you?"

"It was... amazing!" Kate gave Lanie a sly smile.

Rick arrived at the precinct around noon, he went to press the UP button for the elevator and hesitated. Kate didn't work here anymore and...well, Gates scared the shit out of him but he was doing this for her, everything he did was for her.

Maddox had to be stopped.

The elevator doors pinged open, he looked around trying to spot Ryan in the crowd hesitant to leave the comfort of the small room, the doors almost closing on him.

It had only been a day but walking out into the bullpen... everything felt different, somehow.

He clocked Gates in her office and decided to make a bee line for the break room but Ryan cut him off

"Hey, how's Beckett?"

"Ahh, thought you were Gates coming to tell me to 'Get the hell out of HER precinct'. Uhm, Beckett is doin' okay"

Ryan nodded at the vagueness.

"Man, I don't know how things got so messed up. I was just doin' my job, now Javi won't even talk to me and Beckett... she'll never forgive me" Ryan said as they made themselves comfortable on the break room couch.

"C'mon, you know Beckett doesn't think like that, in fact she told me how grateful she was that you had her back. I am too, by the way. And we both know Esposito can be stubborn and pig headed, you guys'll be back to normal in no time" Rick tried to reassure his friend.

A waitress appeared next to the table and asked if they wanted to order anything, so they ordered a plate of club sandwiches... basically, anything to have privacy.

"Good to know. And with that question answered, let's move on to this nonsense about you resigning"

"I made a decision that felt right... at the time. How did you hear about me resigning, anyway?"

For the first time since she resigned, doubt crept in. Except that she was happy, for the first time in her life, so she pushed it aside.

"Oh, you know... grapevine"

Lanie looked down at the table.

"Esposito! Did you guys...?"

"No. We just talked, he was really upset"

Kate sensed the seriousness in Lanie's tone.

"Well, yeah. Gates screwed us both over"

"Kate, it was more than that... he lost his best friend"

"What?.." said Kate, confusion appearing on her face.

"It has to be a guy thing, because I don't understand it"

"Huh?"

"... he feels betrayed by Kevin. Or maybe it's just a Javi thing"

Javier Esposito was an enigma, even to the people that knew him well.

"Why is he blaming Ryan for what happened?"

It was making less and less sense to Kate.

"Why? It's a mystery to me. You'll have to ask him!"

Lanie raised an eyebrow as she took a sip of her water.

"Oh, I will"

Even his wise-cracking wasn't making Ryan feel better about their situation.

"Files?" he added, prodding the folder in Kevin's arms.

Ryan looked down, having forgotten he was even holding Cole Maddox file.

"We've gone over everything Esposito and Beckett found in the hotel room, Montgomery's laptop, a bunch of files...and his wedding album. Maddox is still in the wind, though"

"Wedding album? Why would they want that?" Castle said, puzzled.

"Esposito told Gates that he thinks they're looking for someone Montgomery knew, might even be the guy behind everything. We can't figure out who" Ryan looked despondent.

"Not the best news, but it's better than nothing. Copies?" asked Castle, flashing a half smile.

"Castle!" shouted Captain Gates, and Rick bolted out of the precinct.


	4. Tomorrow

"How's the rat race?" Rick questioned his daughter, as she walked through the front door.

"Busy, actually. We had 4 bodies come in" Alexis put her messenger bag down by the kitchen counter and sat beside her father.

"Whoa! And I missed all of them?" Rick pouted.

"That's not weird at all, hey, maybe Lanie will let you take my place once I'm back at school"

They both shook their heads, knowingly, there was no way Lanie could deal with Castle every day and he was more of a pounding' the pavement kinda guy, anyway.

"Nah, it smells funny down there" he said, making a face.

Alexis smiled, patted him on the shoulder then kissed his cheek and made her way up to her room.

Castle went back to looking through the files Ryan had copied for him, searching for any clue as to who they were looking for.

"Who are you looking for?" he said absentmindedly to no one, while massaging his temples. This case was like a labyrinth and it was starting to take it's toll.

Rick finally had the woman he loved and really didn't want to drag her back into the case that cost her job. He knew she wasn't lying when she said the case and job wasn't worth losing him forever, but he knew her, he knew that eventually she'd go stir crazy. Beckett was proactive and he loved that about her.

That was when he realised he had been in contact with someone who knew more than him, more than Kate and more than the NYPD. Rick yanked his phone out of his jeans pocket, mumbled a curse word and palmed his forehead. Grabbing his coat, he called the precinct.

"Ryan!"

"Castle?"

He was frantically shoving the car keys into the lock.

"I, uh..."

The keys slipped through his fingers, landing behind the front tire.

"I need you to trace a number, I think I know who they're after..."

Ryan stood, not knowing what to do, looking down at the files and papers on his desk, he said

"Who?"

At this point Rick was in full panic mode, he needed to get to Kate and make sure she was OK.

"I don't know his name, but he's been protecting Kate..." he found the keys and shoved them into the lock, and hopped into the drivers side "I.. I'm headed to her right place now"

That's when Ryan heard the engine of his car start up.

"Castle. If he.. "

"I know!"

Det. Ryan went to work, tracing the number Castle had given him.

Javier Esposito was almost at Beckett's apartment door, he'd received a text from her about 45minutes ago, when he noticed it ajar.

Suspended or not, his cop skills kicked into gear and he slowly pushed the door the rest of the way open. With his back to the wall and his own registered firearm in hand, Javi kicked the door open, scanning the area for signs of a struggle.

"Beckett!?"

Moving through the apartment, he noticed that there had been a fight, and came to the realisation that Maddox had taken her.

Racing down the hallway, Rick hoped that he was arriving in time.

"Kate!" yelled Rick.

"She's not here" Javi answered, slowly turning around.

Rick's heart sank, the door frame the only thing keeping him steady.

"Maddox has her, doesn't he? He won't let her live, not this time. He will kill her... we need to find them"

"No, he won't. We're not gonna let it get that far.. We jus-"

Javi was cut off when Castle's cell started ringing

"So, I tracked the number down..."

"Ryan!"

"But only to a ten block radius on the upper west side. If we start searching now, maybe we can..."

Ryan was rambling... and Castle wasn't in the mood. There was no time for this, they had to hurry or Beckett would be dead.

"RYAN! The bastard has her... Maddox has Kate"

Ryan froze on the other end of the line.

"What? How? I.. I have to tell Gates!"

Castle let out a sigh... of relief and growled down the end of the line.

"Do it!"

Kate slowly opened her eyes, her vision was blurry and her head was pounding.

Maddox was sitting on a chair in front of her - his face roughly a foot away from hers.

"You really should have stayed out of this, Kate" Maddox said closing the gap between them by half a foot.

Beckett blinked.

She couldn't remember how he came to have her tied to a chair in what smelled like a run down crack building.

Maddox grinned at her, a slimey smug self satisfied grin that made her wanna throw up.

"Screw you!"

His open palm collided with Kate's face, with her arms and legs bound she was powerless to stop it.. all she could do was brace herself. It stung like a bitch but she didn't move. Wouldn't give him the power or satisfaction he clearly craved.

"Watch yourself, Detective"

Beckett looked down, sucked at the inside of her cheek and could taste blood...  
but that wasn't enough to stop her from provoking him.

"You're never going to get away with this.." she said looking up at Maddox.

"Oh?" Maddox chuckled, he couldn't contain the amusement he got from that particular comment.

Beckett looked him directly in the eyes, and doubled down - threat wise.

"You know why? Because I have people and you... well, let's face it.. you're expendable! I know it, your boss knows it and I'm betting deep down.. even you know it"

Maddox leaned forward, rested his hand on her shoulders and said

"Maybe so, but I plan on going out with a bang... and Kate, I'm taking you with me"

He slammed his fist into her face again, and everything went black.


End file.
